President Obama's even temper, persistence and rhetorical skills have combined to advance both his personal popularity and his far-flung ambitions. Yet he hasn't won over his detractors, who could still derail his agenda.

Two teams of human scientists Thursday unveiled their work with robots that not only perform experiments, but also come up with new ones. The prototypes tackled physics and biology problems that require simple, repetitive experiments, proceeding by trial and error to uncover knowledge, according to studies published in the journal Science.

For several sweltering days in August, Cheryl Scott and several other Nashville residents stood on downtown overpasses bearing eight-foot-long signs that urged rush-hour drivers to "Google Ron Paul." Scott's campaign is one measure of the Internet-driven support Paul has sparked in his long-shot bid for the presidency. He has never polled above 4% in national surveys, according to Jeffrey Jones, managing editor of the Gallup Poll. Yet the Republican Texas congressman's supporters helped him collect $5 million over the summer.

Over and over, President Bush confidently promised to "solve problems, not pass them on to future presidents and future generations." As the clock runs out on his eight-year presidency, a tall stack of troubles remain and Bush's words ring hollow.